Tag Archives: halloween 2013

William Shatner as Captain Kirk as Michael Myers in Halloween (1978). It’s one of the most iconic props in modern horror movie history, but what was it, anyway, and where is it now? The first mask used for the character of Michael Myers in the now-classic John Carpenter flick Halloween (1978) was a store-bought Captain Kirk mask, made by Don Post Studios (DPS). DPS had created what are called “life casts” of various actors during production of The Devil’s Rain (1975), and these molds made of the actor’s faces were then used for facial prostheses during the melting scenes. In my old Shatnerthon post linked above, you can see Ernest Borgnine in a goat mask made from what must have been a life cast, and Ida Lupino in an eyeless mask using the same process. To the left, a replica of the Devil’s Rain life cast for John Travolta. To the right, a replica of William Shatner’s, the face that went on to become Michael Myers. Many, myself included, have thought Shatner was wearing a full mask during some scenes of The Devil’s Rain, and that exact mask was later used in Halloween. That’s not the case; in Devil’s Rain, he was only wearing a facial piece or pieces, not a full mask. The reason there is a striking similarity between the Devil’s Rain facial prostheses and the Captain Kirk mask used in Halloween is because both were made by Don Post Studios, and both made from … Continue reading